Once Upon A Time
by InnocentGuilt
Summary: It was a 'once upon a time' sorta thing. BJ/Hawkeye


It was a 'once upon a time' sorta thing. One of those stories that started with the distressed and a prince coming to the rescue. You know that type. It's the one that gets your hopes up; makes your heart flutter in anticipation; has you biting your lip as the two come closer and closer together.

It started with one man in Korea, mourning his lost one, trying to come to terms with the fact that he had been left alone in a strange world with no one he could connect to. Then in steps the prince. He had left his kingdom of gold, and was now standing in the world the lost man existed in, as strange and as cold as it was. Still, he felt no comfort because the prince had come with memories of a princess and a child between them, while all that he had were nightmares of fighting a dragon that would not die. But as lucky as the prince was to have such golden memories, he was just as tragic because of them. He had left that life to fight this dragon with the distressed, and from that seemingly cruel idea the lost man found consolation.

There was no connection, other than the land beneath their feet and the fact that one day this unsure prince would soon become just as tired from fighting the dragon with immortality. From that small, insignificant connection, though, bloomed the toughest, tightest bond that anyone had ever witnessed. The distressed and the prince became inseparable in the shortest time.

Suddenly, the dragon was slightly more conquerable. The dirt beneath them didn't seem so strange. Soon, home was a tent, and a reason for living could be held in your hand and imbibed. The long nights became more sufferable when woken by the dragon's breathing, the by shrill roar as it breathed its fire across the land and unknowing people who stood in its way. The prince would comfort the distressed with stories of his still memorable home and the distressed would comfort the prince with jokes and lightheartedness in the dark times. And they were grateful to each other.

From gratitude sparked something deeper, something passed the forged friendship…something complicated, but wonderful. From connection, indivisibility, and gratitude there came love. I'm sure there was lust in there somewhere, but as I said earlier, it's a 'once upon a time' type of thing. You know those stories don't deal with lust, so neither will I.

But they loved each other, were in love with each other, in cold and hot, in anger and happiness, in insanity or lucidity. The prince's princess and their child became a dream-world in this world that had become their home. The distressed found himself once more, even as the dragon washed away more people. It was them; no longer single individuals, but a melding of two people into a unified person. It was_ them_ and the tight-knit family they had eventually forged in a country, which a decade ago, no one had known the name of. There was finally connection; connection that was more than the land they stood on and the monster they fought. They were in love, and they loved the people around them.

Sounds like a beautiful ending, doesn't it? To love all around you, to find peace within injustice…that sounds almost poetic. But this is not where the story ends, I'm sorry to say. You see, there's still the dragon. No story ends without the evil beast being slain. And eventually it was slain.

Where did that leave our love birds?

It left them standing on familiar ground…_ home_…staring at each other with tears in their eyes, and trying to drag those last few seconds, before they had to depart, out just a little longer.

They had to leave each other, don't you see? Because even though they had made a small kingdom of silver tin foil, the prince did still have his princess and their child and his kingdom made of real gold. He had a duty to follow, and the other would not let him give all of that up. They had decided long ago that if ever the dragon were to finally die, they would part company. They would leave each other alone, settling to letters and a few sparse words over a magical device to help them through, and if their love faded it was for the better.

So the prince left on his valiant steed, after those few short, too short, seconds, and the other left on his magical flying carpet. Then a day later they were both standing in America on either coast, both mourning their lost one, and both trying to come to terms with the fact that that they had been left in strange world with no one to connect with.

It was a lot like those 'once upon a time' stories, but there was no 'happily ever after.' I apologize if I had your heart fluttering; if I got your hopes up; if I had you biting your lip. I probably should have started by introducing this as a tragedy…

&$&$&$&$&

InnocentGuilt


End file.
